US crypto tax bill clears House committee in 38-5 vote

The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee has advanced the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act in a 38-5 vote, moving the first proposed federal tax framework for digital assets toward consideration by the full House.

Crypto tax bill advances with bipartisan support

The House Ways and Means Committee approved H.R. 10357, known as the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, during a Sep. 16 markup after more than a year of work among lawmakers from both parties.

Committee Chair Jason Smith called the vote a first for the tax-writing panel, saying members had produced a framework that would place digital assets more clearly within the Internal Revenue Code.

“This is a historic moment for this Committee: after more than a year of working together, Republican and Democrat Members have come together to establish the first-ever tax framework for digital assets,” Smith said in his opening statement.

Rather than passing through the full House, the 38-5 vote moves the proposal out of committee and makes it eligible for consideration on the chamber floor. Both the House and Senate would need to approve identical text before the measure could reach the president.

Smith said the committee built H.R. 10357 through months of study and input from lawmakers. He described the digital asset industry as a sector worth more than $2 trillion globally and argued that clearer tax rules could help prevent related companies and jobs from leaving the United States.

The committee considered a substitute amendment that replaced the introduced version with similar language and set Sep. 14, 2026, as the reference date for several provisions. Changes tied to that date include rules for wash sales, constructive sales, certain foreign entities and digital assets covered by registration requirements.

Digital asset tax rules cover fees and stablecoins

Under the committee-approved text, taxpayers would not recognize a gain or loss when using digital assets to pay qualifying network or transaction fees of no more than $10.

Network fees covered by the provision include payments used to validate another digital asset transaction. Eligible transaction costs include brokerage, trading, liquidity, and similar fees, although the bill sets conditions on the type of asset used to pay them.

Current federal treatment can create a taxable disposal when a person spends crypto, including when tokens are used to cover transaction costs. As crypto.news previously explained in its review of current federal tax treatment, the IRS treats digital assets as property, meaning a sale, exchange, or payment can create a capital gain or loss.

The $10 exception would remove gain-or-loss recognition only for qualifying fees, rather than create a general exemption for everyday crypto purchases. Certain traders, brokers, dealers, transaction validators and taxpayers conducting more than 5,000 digital asset transfers in the prior tax year would face exclusions, subject to administrative rules in the bill.

H.R. 10357 also creates simplified accounting methods for gains and losses involving widely traded digital assets. Another section provides specific treatment for qualifying transactions involving U.S. dollar stablecoins, addressing assets designed to maintain a fixed value against the dollar.

Alongside those user-facing provisions, the bill covers transfers made under digital asset lending agreements, tax rules for dealers and traders, a trading safe harbor and charitable contributions of certain digital assets. Proposed rules would also treat some stablecoin lending arrangements as debt for federal tax purposes.

For American taxpayers, the changes could alter both how gains are calculated and which records must be kept. Existing rules require taxpayers to track the cost basis and fair value of crypto involved in taxable disposals, while broker reporting through Form 1099-DA has expanded the transaction data sent to the IRS.

Crypto wash sales, mining and staking enter the framework

Anti-abuse sections of the bill would extend wash-sale rules to traded digital assets and apply constructive-sale provisions to crypto. Under current law, the statutory wash-sale restriction applies to securities but not digital assets, allowing taxpayers to sell crypto at a loss and quickly repurchase it while still claiming the loss.

H.R. 10357 would close that distinction for assets covered by the legislation. The proposal also includes rules involving foreign corporations, investment companies, straddles, and distributions of traded digital assets from partnerships to partners.

Mining and staking receive separate treatment. The bill addresses the source and character of income earned through both activities and provides rules for investment trusts engaged in digital asset staking.

Existing IRS guidance generally treats mining and staking rewards as ordinary income once a taxpayer receives control of the assets. A later sale can produce a separate capital gain or loss based on any difference between the disposal price and the value already recognized as income.

Further provisions revise digital asset broker requirements and establish a voluntary disclosure program. Eligible taxpayers could use the program to correct certain past digital asset reporting failures, while the Treasury Department would be required to study the framework and submit a report.

According to a Joint Committee on Taxation estimate, the complete bill would raise a net $500 million in federal revenue from fiscal 2027 through 2036. Its wash-sale provision is projected to raise about $1.71 billion over the period, while the exemption for small digital asset fees is estimated to reduce revenue by roughly $2.37 billion.

The bill also incorporates the FULL HOUSE Act, which would restore the deduction for gambling losses up to the amount of a taxpayer’s winnings. Smith said the provision would reverse a change that reduced the allowable deduction to 90% of winnings, potentially leaving some taxpayers with a bill even when they broke even or lost money.

CLARITY Act remains stalled after Senate vote

Committee approval arrived one day after the Senate rejected cloture on the motion to proceed with H.R. 3633, the vehicle for the CLARITY Act. The Sep. 15 vote ended 49-50, leaving the measure 11 votes short of the 60 required to begin debate.

The result was procedural and did not constitute a final vote on the market-structure legislation. Still, it stopped senators from opening debate, offering amendments or moving toward passage at that stage.

Unlike the tax-focused H.R. 10357, the CLARITY Act addresses how digital assets and market intermediaries would be regulated. Its provisions seek to define the respective roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, including expanded CFTC authority over digital commodity spot markets.

Before the vote, disagreements centered on presidential crypto interests, protections for decentralized finance developers and stablecoin rewards. A previous Senate vote analysis also identified the limited congressional calendar as an obstacle because any Senate changes would need approval from the House.

Federal agencies may continue developing policy under their current authority while the legislation remains stalled. In a Sep. 16 assessment, Michael Saylor said the SEC, CFTC and Treasury could proceed without waiting for Congress, though the CFTC does not hold the complete spot-market powers contemplated by the bill.

The official Senate record lists the cloture motion as rejected and gives no date for another vote. Sen. Thom Tillis changed his vote to “no” after the outcome became clear, placing him on the prevailing side and preserving his ability under Senate procedure to move for reconsideration.